


Perfect Present

by F1_rabbit



Series: The ABCs of Winter 2 [16]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/F, fem!drivers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 11:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17022171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: The drivers' annual secret santa is here again, and Maxine always finds getting the perfect gift stressful, but this year she has to find a gift for her crush.





	Perfect Present

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnaMachado](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaMachado/gifts).



Maxine sat in the corner of the room, fidgeting with her hair as she watched Dani chatting away to Carla, both of them smiling, and Maxine felt her eyes glow green.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to make friends with any of the other racers.

Shuffling in her seat, she thought about going over to sit with them, but the little meeting room was filling up fast, and she didn’t want to look obvious.

The drivers’ secret santa swap was a tradition that had been going on since Nikki Lauda and Jamie Hunt had graced this very room back in the seventies.

It was meant to be a little bit of fun, but it filled Maxine with dread. She was a perfectionist, and even though she kept telling herself it was just a simple gift, she ended up spending days, weeks sometimes, obsessing over the perfect present.

Her hand was shaking as she reached into the helmet filled with scraps of paper, her mind racing with the possibilities, trying to work out who would be easiest to buy a gift for.

“Maxine, you have to pick one.” Nicola gave the helmet a shake, and Maxine held her breath, grabbing the first bit of paper that she could, just to get it all over with.

She clutched it to her chest, peering at it as everyone stared at her, and she froze when she saw the name.

_Daniela_

Typical, of all the drivers, it had to be the one she had a crush on.

*

That night, Maxine stared at the scrap of paper as though it had the power to destroy her.

Maxine thought about getting Dani a joke gift, a ridiculously oversized dildo or edible lingerie, neither of which Dani would use, but everyone would get a laugh out of it.

Last year she’d got Kimi a generic gift of vodka, which was fine for someone she didn’t know that well, but she hoped that her and Dani were friends.

She needed a gift that showed how well she knew Dani.

She needed the perfect present.

***

The last race weekend of the year was looming, and so was the deadline for the secret santa.

Maxine thought about asking Carla for advice, but her own stubbornness meant that she had to do this alone, prove that she knew Dani the best.

Wandering the streets of London, killing time before she had to be at the factory in Milton Keynes, when she spilt her coffee over herself, cursing the lid of her travel mug, and in her haste to wipe up the worst of the mess she saw a sign.

Down the alley, was a small bookshop, with a bull on the sign, and Maxine found herself drawn to it.

Just the smell of books reminded her of Dani, the walls of her flat in Monaco covered from floor to ceiling in books of all types.

“Can I help you, miss?” The owner of the bookstore looked like he could moonlight as a magician, swirling his top hat in his hand before sitting it down on a stack of books.

“My friend loves books, and I’m looking for the perfect present.”

“You’ve come to the right place.”

***

Wandering into the full room, Maxine breathed a sigh of relief when Dani waved to her, moving her race suit off the seat next to her and making space for Maxine to sit.

She clutched the gift tight, even the wrapping paper had been picked because it was Dani’s favourite colour, purple.

Maxine couldn’t focus on the other drivers and their gifts, she laughed when the others did, and she hoped that no-one noticed how distracted she was.

She hoped that they had forgotten about her, but then there was silence, and she felt a blush creep on to her cheeks.

“Maxine, it’s your turn.” Nicola gave her a kind smile, and Maxine felt her heart race as she gave the gift to Dani.

“I hope you like it.” Maxine felt time slow as Dani carefully unwrapped the book, her eyes lighting up when she saw her gift.

“An early edition of Gogol’s _Dead Souls_ , where did you find this?”

“A bookshop.”

Everyone laughed as Maxine blushed, cursing her own awkwardness as Dani gave her a hug.

“Thank you, it’s perfect.”

Nicola smiled, and Maxine relaxed a little, but the feeling was short lived.

“Last but not least,” Nicola said, enjoying being in charge for a change. “Dani, it’s your turn to give Maxine her gift.”

Dani’s grin made Maxine feel warm inside, and then Dani’s lips were on hers, taking her breath away with a chaste kiss.

“Merry Christmas.”

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
